Top for vehicles and the like



00%. 16 1923'. F. K. LEWIS TOP FOR VEHICLES AND THE LIKE Filed May 7,1919 v fA/V NTOE W l K improyements; su ch. -top beingjshown' as mot-team; an automohile body ioijtoimeaut of?conventional 01111 and F g;2118 3 811111:

V Pateht'ed Gct.16, 1923.j

EB QKQLEWlSs, F esiissswts V i110; VEEWPESAQTP. he-L KE;

1 lpp licatio i fiied may 7, 1919, SrialfNmQQa'AMQ E To (Mk whom'z'tmay. con emn- 1 Beit lgi ownthatI Fmgp K, LEWIS; a eiti "zen; of theUnited States; and a resident, of"

I principle, so

; sexy for the operatoi to leave theiton neau.

Ohio,-hav e invefitfedja new anduse-fuli Inik p rovenie it 'i11.{Tops"fo1"- Vehicles an'dQthe l-i'ke,*0f; which the-fitolloti ipg-is a speci}fi'egttion, the principle of the invention; being hereinexplainedfandthe" best mode; in

which I have contemplated applying that s 'as toc'llisti' igtiish it:ffIfOHl other- 1 inventions. I

' 'The object of the present in-ve tion is to, provide-an; outrigger;StIIlGblilffifOI automo bileltopsoi th'efso-"ca lled one man type, whichwill becap able of considerably more;

loiigitudinal" extension than in; present" de- 7 s "signs; while sti1lretainingthe essential teeture ofifsupporti i-g the top structure Whollyfrom a sing l'e main-bow, 'Morepa 'ticulm ly' the object is to provideastpu'eture of the- V oharactei i i questio ng which may besupported'=from a single realiwzt 'dly i iclin'ing main how, so thatwheri ttheitop.is, extended the entire tonneztu spaceiforvwardly of such main b ow willbe I clea z- "01f: any -obst1 uction,' even where $1 2311 ton-neauiv-isa I two-seated one. A fiui'the obj ect' isto provide-sa stmcture" thatmay, be readilymgmipelated to either fold 0n=un-fo1di is-desired;without itab'eing neces- To the;accomplishn eritofithei foregoing andrelatedends, the intent on, then, consists of the meaiislhe reifieftenfully described:

andipart-icularly pointed out in the claims,"

" thefanneid drawihg and theffpl'lowing descri'ptioii'" setting? forth}-in detail i certain mechanism embodying the-i invention, such disclosed,me-anslconstituting howevei', but

oneo-f thei variouswmecha'n-icel forms in:

which, the. principlego'frthe invention may or folded condition-Cg;-Eig. 1 is aside elek ational View offa top silppoixting structureembodying; myv present let elevation showing the top and such;supporting;structure-: 1 (partially collapsed-- ltisrof course 'apmatten 0t indifference Whetherflthei top: is 'used, on automobile, mOtb lbOiifi' Q1? otherwise, i and; depeg ding ubon'fits; longitudinal:extent; r a smelter of largervnumben ot 'cbows, in. addition to the,

outrigger stnucture ofp-rese t interest may be utilized. It will also;be-iinderstood that the tei in ho-W? isgused herein i-Iich sively tedesignate] not. merely the Wooden! bow propel but; also the metallic;sockets: carry;

iii-g the same, these parts whe ir'eg arded in;

side elevation;co ns'tit i tipgthe eq iivalento f the so-ca-lled sticks,as they are called iii the 01dwood structii ei "It is} ageopdingly azmattergofconvenience to; refer to; the parts;

in the; singigl'a i as though thestrigetureh yaH- in' a single verticalplane, since the pa ts o-ifi interest do; actuallyliein such 2 plane;

' As previously iridiceted, the top coyering 1 isdesigned to be'entirely; supp orted thrpugh 2111f appropriate outrigger St-PHCQll-Ile:

from at singlei'hai-n-how 2; Thela ttegfwhich I is' of substantialCOIilStTllCtiOIidIl: View of the Weight itis {thus designed to Carr-Y3is pivot-."

a lly supported upon orjatt eched to the hod y atthe point?) in theu-si-al. manner; so the it may be laid; down and supported-in a ifsihstagitigxlly' horizontaLplztne when the top is;

notin i seg Norm-ally; fth e ex-tendechor' open conditionof the top saidmafi-n bow, inclines rearward ly at aniahgle of?a )};n1(g i -mateiyforty-five deg-r'ees to the, horizontal,

being he-ld from rising: highlj the top covering oprather-hy-spetrizylstfaps (-notz showr ybr extensions o-fi the longitudinalrstrainers-which, asiswdhknptvn, m e used 'tolcon iect the bows togetherand proyi'd e supporting meansfor, the; top covering ntermedate1ybetween said how-s. For 'the purpose in ligand {such sti aps- 01strainers ii ay' be regapded use part of the covering ana terial; I 1 Vo v The outrigger sti ucture comprises main;

apti'cul'ated a uxiliarybow; 01 as it is sometimesca-lled; outriggerbow-6, the lattes term referring -m()fle pibl"ti'gjlllafiy130-611}?0L1t6l1-130f- I tion' oi-v b'OW 7" propel; which isseeurectto themzin how 2 b-y Iheans -of an; a m;8(-0 ne; on each-side of con-r se)-pimtallX-attachedg to saidm-aiii bowan-d tqth'e rea i e i-do-fs-uch Io-utr-i ggerhow, and s0 constitutingthe; im ier portion ofi'said 'z'rticuhyted auxiliary bow 6 The point of attachir-ient fthisg a rrh toth meinbowis preferably in line with, oej-ust' above, the sideedge of;the coves, so as 'to,

rule-joint disposed so top fevent fur-they; bending of the a m inquestion; Whenextend}; ed in horizon-tal' fashion, as injthe oger con;

ditionof the top illustrated in la,

' be hiddemby the lttte y and; the jpint i tween said arm and'the out rigge bow; isaa Pivotally attached to the arm 8 is a supplemental bow 10'that in such open condition of the top is designed to extend forwardlyat an angle with respectto said arm so as to support the cover 1 at apoint approximately midway between the main bow 2 and the outrigger bow7. Operatively connecting said supplemental bow with the main bow 2 andoutrigger bow 7 is a link comprising two parts pivotally connectedtogether. As shown, the forward part 11 is pivotally connected to saidoutrigger bow at a point 12 just beyond the joint 9 in the latterrand tosaid supplementalbow at a point 13 suitably spaced from the point of,

attachment of said bow on arm 8; while the rear part 14 of said link orbrace has its one end attached to said forward part 11 at a point 15slightly in front of the point 13 of attachment of the latter tosupplemental bowzlO, and its other end pivotally attached'to themainbow, or preferably, as illustrated, to a bracket 16 on the frontface of said main bow which at the. same time provides means forattachment to the latter of the arm 8.; The upper portion of thisbracket isbent forwardly'at an angle apziproximati'ng a right angle, sothat the point of pivotalattachment of said link-part 14; will liesubstantially directly above the point of attachment of said arm -8 inthe open position of the top, i. e. a line passing through the twopointsin question will lie at approximately right angles to the median line ofmain bow 2.

The forward link-part 11, which may also be regarded as a lever, extendsbeyond the point 12-of its pivotal attachment to outrigger bow 7, sothat its corresponding end' projects a triflebelow the plane of saidbow.

when the top is open, and'attached to such end is a second outrigger how17 which supports the extreme forwardportion of the top observed thatthe position. of the joint is covering 1.. There are thus provided inefiect two articulated outrigger bows which support the forward portionof the top covering and permit of a corresponding in crease in thelongitudinal extent of the latter without requiring a separate forwardsupport resting on the vehicle body. This secondoutrigger how 17 isfreely pivotaily connected with said link-part 11, it being determinedby the angular position of the link, the latter being locked inproperplace, whenv the top is open, by the action of a stop 18 on thearm8 which engages with supplemental bow 10 and limits its position whenthe top is open. A separate link 19, however, is desirably utilized toconnect outrigger bow 17with the "main outrigger bow 7, so that it maybe supported there- 1; from without imposing too much strain on thecover materialbetween the twobows.

Said link 19 furthermore serves to correlate the movement of the twooutrigger bows when-the top is being folded, as will be evident from aninspection of Fig. 2. T his figure clearlyillustrates the manner inwhich the other component parts of the top supporting structure fold up;thus it will be seen. that the'link-part 11 and said link '19 maintainthe supplemental bow 10 and the two outrigger bows 7 and 17 insubstantially parallel arrangement during the folding operation, and ofcourse equally so during the unfolding of the top. The linkpart 14 notonly serves to sustain the whole outrigger structure, When extended, inproper angular relation to themain bow-2,

but by virtue of its point of connection with the forward link-part-v 11and with the bracket 16, it is enabledto fold up parallel with the,other parts just referred to. It should be noted in passing that therear end of the forward link-part 11 curved downwardly ordroppedatrifle, so that its point 13 of attachment to supplemental'bowl0 liesbelow a line passing through the linkparts in their extendedcondition. a

The structure is thus seen to be unusually ill) compact inits foldedcondition, and yet when extended an adequate support for a top ofconsiderable longitudinal extent is pro.- vided Without any obstructionin'the way of a forwardly inclining main bow, or braces or links thatlie below the side line of the top covering. The'various componentbowsare joined-together by the employment of a minimum number ofqconnectingthe singleflpivotal support 3 upon which the whole structure issustained.

As in the foregoing description, the two bows 7 and 17 may beregarded asfirst and second outrigger bows the order named, the first of said bowsbeing of two-part" articulated construction, and/the second likewise ofarticulated construction but of more than two parts; in other'wordsit isconnected with the main bowthroughtthe mediumi of t-hetWo link-parts 11and 14:; The latter may also beregarded as constituting a flexibleconnection betweenthe rear portion of the first-named outrigger bow,themain bowand the supplemental bow.

of my invention may be employed instead of theme explained, changebeing' made as Other modes of applying'the principle regards themechanisin-herein disclosed,

provided themeans stated by; anyof the V such rear portion; a linkpivotally attachedpart articulated outrigger bow having its:

rear portion pivotally attached to said standard; a supplemental bowpivotally attached to such rear portion; and a second articulatedoutrigger bow having its rear portion disposed to intersect the forwardportion of said first outrigger bow and being pivotally attached theretoat such point ofintersection, such rear portion of said second outriggerbow comprising two pivotallyinterconnected parts, one such part being'pivotally attached to said. standard above the point of attachment ofsaid first outrigger bow thereto, and the other such part beingpivotally connected with said supplemental bow.

2. In a top for vehicles and the like, the 1 combination of a main bow;a two-part artic ulated outrigger bow having its rear portion pivotallyattached to said main bow; a supplemental bow pivotally attached to suchrear portion; a link pivotally attached to the forward portion of said.outrigger bow and intersecting the same in the open position of thetop;a second outrigger bow at-' tached to the forward end of said link; anda second link pivotally attached at one end to said main bow, one ofsaid two links being also pivotally attached to said supplemental bowand the otherlink to such one.

3, In a top for vehicles and the like, the combination of a main bow; atwo-part articulated outrigger bow having its rear portion pivotallyattached to said main'bow; a supplemental bow pivotally attached to tothe forward portion of said outrigger bow and intersecting the 'same inthe open position of the top; a second outrigger bow attached to theforward end of said'link,

the rear end of the latter being attached'to;

a supplemental bow pivotally attached to said supplementalbow; and asecond link pivotally attached at its respective ends to said firstlinkand to said main bow.

4. In a top for vehicles and the like, the combination of a main bow; atwo-part articulated outrigger bow'having its rear portion pivotallyattached to said main bow;

such rear portion; a link pivotally attached to the forward portion ofsaid outrigger bow and intersecting the same in the open position ofthe, top; asecond outrigger bow attached to the'forward end of saidlink, the rear end of the latter bending downwardly and being attachedto said supplemental bow; a vsecond link pivotally at tached at one endto said first link forwardly of its point of attachment to saidsupplemental bow and at its other en'd to said main bow; and a thirdlink directly connecting said second outrigger bow'with the outerportion of said first outrigger how. I p

5. In atop for vehicles and the like, the combination of a rearwardlyinclined main bow; a two-part articulated outrigger bow' having its rearportion pivotally attached to said main 'bow'and thence inclining'forwardly and upwardly in the open position 75 ofithe top; asupplemental bow pivotally attached to such rear portion; a secondarticulated outrigger bow extending substantially horizontally in' suchopen position i and having its rear portion pivotally attached totheforward portion of said first outrigger bow; and a bracket on said mainbow projecting forwardly therefrom, the rearportion ofsaid secondoutrigger bow comprisingtwo pivotally interconnected parts, one suchpart being pivotally at-r tachedto saidbraoket at a point substan tiallydirectly over the point of attachment of. said first outrigger bowtosaidmainbow in such open position and the other such part being.pivotally connected with said supplemental bow.

FRED K. LEWIS.

